Man released after spending 30 years in prison for rape


PONTIAC, Ill. (AP) — A man convicted of rape nearly 30 years ago -- who said Chicago police tortured him until he confessed to the crime -- was released from prison Wednesday after spending the better part of three decades behind bars.
Stanley Wrice walked out of the Pontiac Correctional Center in Illinois Wednesday morning, one day after a Cook County judge said he should be freed and his conviction should be overturned.
The judge's decision was reached partly because the police officers involved lied about how they treated Wrice during his interrogation. 
Wrice, 59, was sentenced to 100 years in prison for the 1982 rape, but he has always claimed the confession was made after officers repeatedly beat him. The accused officers did not testify at Tuesday's hearing, citing their constitutional right against self-incrimination.
Now that Wrice's conviction has been overturned, it is up to a special prosecutor to decide whether to retry him for the crime.
Wrice's is the latest case to cast a shadow over the Chicago Police Department and, more specifically, former Lt. Jon Burge -- who is accused of falsely obtaining confessions from multiple suspects during the 1970s and 1980s, several of whom have also been ordered released from prison in recent years.

Burge was convicted in 2010 of perjury and obstruction of justice and is currently serving a four year prison sentence. The city of Chicago has paid out millions of dollars in recent years to settle lawsuits in cases related to Burge's rule.